Resilient pin, particularly for clothes



1967 GERMANI 3,348,272

RESILIENT PIN, PARTICULARLY FOR CLOTHES Filed Feb. 18, 1966 INVENTOR.

$59M German United States Patent 3,348,272 RESILIENT PIN, PARTICULARLY FOR CLOTHES Luciano Germani, Milan, Italy, assignor to S.A.R.T.

Stampaggio Articoli Resiue Termoplastiche S.r.L., Milan, Italy, a corporation of Italy Filed Feb. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 528,481 Claims priority, application Italy, May 20, 1965, 1,474/ 65 4 Claims. (Cl. 24-137) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A clasp to retain objects on a line having a flexible tongue connected to a frame member by means of a flexible bar. The free ends of the frame member and the tongue are bent in opposed directions to form an insert opening, and the bar and the frame member are provided with half-transversal notches aligned to define at least one line-retaining opening.

The present invention relates to a pin or clamp to hold sheets in general such as paper or fabric sheets or the like, and in particular linens or clothes.

The known clothes-pins are made up of two hinged elements which are biased by spring means. Attempts have been made to simplify said clamps by reducing them to one suitably shaped single element. However, said solution is unsatisfactory since it does not allow the article to be rationally fastened to a cord or the like, inasmuch as this latter has a greater thickness than that of the article held.

The pin or clamp according to the present invention, meets the requirements just considered and it is characterized by an annular element of flexible material, by at least one ledge fastened with one of its ends inside said annular element, by at least one set of grooves opposite and alternated to each other foreseen in proximity to the anchorage zone between the annular element and the ledge to form an opening to house the cord for the considered articles.

The annular element is suitably of a rectangular shape and the ledge is placed along the major axis. The free end of this latter with the adjacent end of the annular element are bent in opposite directions to form an opening for insertion.

The invention will now be set forth in the following description wherein reference is made to the enclosed drawing which illustrates by way of example the pin according to the invention.

FIGURE 1 is a view of the clothes-pin.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view with some parts in cross-section.

The illustrated clothes-pin comprises an annular element A of resiliently flexible material, preferably of a suitable plastic material, having a rectangular shape.

The longitudinal arms B of element A are-connected with one of their ends to a cross link which is suitably bent to constitute, as hereinafter shall be said, an opening for insertion.

Between arms B of element A a ledge D is arranged, whose end F adjacent to cross link C is rounded and bent in an opposite direction to that of said cross link so that both of these ends form an opening for insertion which facilitates the engagement of the pin with the articles to be fastened.

Ledge D is connected to the other end G of the annular element A, through a cross link H of reduced width in respect to that of the ledge itself to impart to this latter a certain amount of flexibility, further improved by openings appropriately made in the connection zone between the annular element A and ledge D. Arms B and cross link H that are near the just considered connection zone, are transversely bent to form co-axial grooves which are arranged with their openings in opposite directions to each other. Said grooves so arranged with their ledges define an opening K of suitable width whose longitudinal axis is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the annular element A. During the use of the pin opening K can house the cord or any other member to hold the considered article, this latter being fastened and resiliently held by arms B and cross-link D.

Because of said expedients, the insertion operation of the pin on the considered article is readily carried out without using any particular care, inasmuch as said insertion is always assured by the curvatures of ends C and F.

As stated above, the cord or the like, which holds the clothes or the sheets is freely housed in opening K so that the resilient actions of cross-link D and of arms B can freely act on the clothes without any overstresses on the pin.

The described and illustrated pin lends itself in a profitable and practical way to be produced in pressed plastic material which besides having the advantage of being economical is unalterable and resistant. Naturally, on the other hand, said pin could be made in metal as well.

I claim:

1. A clasp to retain objects on a line, said clasp comprising a frame member having two longitudinal parallel sides, a flexible tongue disposed within said frame member and having a pair of substantially straight, parallel longitudinal sides spaced from the longitudinal sides of said frame member, a flexible bar connecting one end of said tongue to one end of said frame member, the other end of said tongue and the other end of said frame member being bent in opposite directions to form an insert opening for said object, said bar being of a smaller width than that of said tongue to define with the longitudinal sides of said frame member a pair of openings symmetrically arranged lengthwise to said bar, said bar and said frame member being provided with half-transversal notches aligned one with respect to the other and having alternatively opposed openings to define at least one lineretaining opening extending transversely to said frame member.

2. The clasp according to claim 1, wherein said one end of said frame member includes a retaining head provided, in the clasping area of said tongue, with shaped openings adapted to increase the flexibility of said bar.

3. The clasp according to claim 1, wherein said frame member is rectangular and wherein said tongue is positioned along the major axis of said rectangle.

4. The clasp according to claim 1, wherein said frame member, said tongue, and said bar are all made of plastic.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 59,408 10/1921 Byers. 1,654,756 1/1928 Ryan 24-259 1,833,353 11/1931 Burghart. 2,021,619 11/1935 Waters et al. 24259 2,600,091 6/1952 Becker 24137 FOREIGN PATENTS ,407 6/1952 Switzerland.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A CLASP TO RETAIN OBJECTS ON A LINE, SAID CLASP COM PRISING A FRAME MEMEBER HAVING TWO LONGITUDINAL PARALLEL SIDES, A FLEXIBLE TONGUE DISPOSED WITHIN SAID FRAME MEMBER AND HAVING A PAIR OF SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT, PARALLEL LONGITUDINAL SIDES SPACED FROM THE LONGITUDINAL SIDES OF SAID FRAME MEMBER, A FLEXIBLE BAR CONNECTING ONE END OF SAID TONGUE TO ONE END OF SAID FRAME MEMBER, THE OTHER END OF SAID TONGUE AND THE OTHER END OF SAID FRAME MEMBER BEING BENT IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS TO FORM AN INSERT OPENING FOR SAID OBJECT, SAID BAR BEING OF A SMALLER WIDTH THAN THAT OF SAID TONGUE TO DEFINE WITH THE LONGITUDINAL 